Search

In England, pupils aged 16 take the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations for a range of subjects. The current assessment models for GCSE include a two-tier structure for some subjects and a non-tier model for the others. The tiered subjects have a higher tier designed for high achieving pupils and a lower tier for low achieving pupils. The higher tier paper is targeted at grades A*–D (with A* the highest grade available), while the lower tier paper at grades C–G (with G the lowest grade). The UK government has proposed a comprehensive reform of GCSEs. It suggested that, with tiered papers, pupils are forced to choose between higher and lower tier papers, which will place a cap on the ambition of those entering for the lower tier. The government therefore suggests avoiding tiering in the reformed GCSEs when possible. This paper discusses the technical and equity issues with the use of tiered examinations in current GCSEs and reviews potential alternative assessment approaches for effective differentiation between pupils for the reformed GCSEs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports teacher and learner perspectives on how assessment and reform influences pedagogical practices and behaviours. The research was conducted in a context of policy reform, at a time when Wales' revised General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) specifications had been implemented, and learners were preparing for their assessments; but, also during the period of debate on the development of Wales' new curriculum, which has taken a distinct and contrasting position on assessment to the assumptions underlying the reform of Welsh GCSEs implemented from 2015. These data, therefore, offer unique insights into the affordances and limitations of two sharply contrasting systems at a time of considerable change, offering reflections on the current curriculum and its attendant assessment practices, and also a prospective analysis of how the principles embedded in the new curriculum could challenge these existing assumptions and conventions. Findings suggest that teachers and learners currently inhabit an assessment‐driven system, which encourages performative practices in pedagogy and is governed by external accountability; and that these practices are at odds with the principles of assessment articulated in Successful Futures. Consequently, teachers in this study expressed uncertainty about how assessment for certification purposes at GCSE could be compatible with the principles of the Curriculum for Wales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss issues arising from the implementation of curriculum reform, based on a review of the education system, in Wales.

The paper explores tensions in the articulation of progression in learning across the Humanities disciplines. Informed by our review of research in the Humanities disciplines, international curricula on progression in these areas and reflections from professional activity within the newly defined Humanities 'Area of Learning and Experience' in the new Welsh curriculum, this paper describes how learning progression in Humanities has been conceptualised within the new curriculum and then delineates and critically reviews four challenges that emerged when identifying and describing the progression in learning in the new Humanities curriculum. Tensions include the relationship between disciplines; the balance between knowledge, skills and values; the differences between underlying models of progression in Humanities; and balancing the complexity of learning with practical considerations for a national curriculum. Underpinned by the Integrity Model of Change, this paper makes a contribution, through providing new insights on broad aspects of learning progression in Humanities and highlighting the potential benefits and challenges of taking particular decisions within each of these four tensions. Implications for curriculum planning and future research are offered, including the fundamental role of professional learning in curriculum development and enactment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overarching aim of this paper is to explore how key principles inherent in human rights declarations and conventions are translated into practices associated with human rights education within school contexts. It is argued that this translation from discourse to practice opens up the potential for children and young people to encounter inequitable experiences of human rights education, and that this is an ethical issue that needs addressing. Within the paper, human rights education relates to both direct teaching about human rights, and to children and young peoples’ experiences of how school practitioners acknowledge and uphold their rights. In both national and international contexts, knowledge and understanding about school-based human rights education is lacking; this paper aims to address this issue by developing a theoretical framework through which to view human rights education practices within school settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Throughout the past 40 years, a number of terms have been used in the UK to refer to competency‐based pedagogies that focus on preparing students for everyday 'life' and employment. The evolution of these generic forms of knowledge in official curricula has been accompanied by harsh practical realities when it comes to teaching, assessing and certifying them. These practical realities counterbalance the strong support genericskillism enjoys in policy discourses that centre on employability and universalism in upper‐secondary education. By drawing upon Bernstein's sociological insights and data collected and analysed as part of a study that sought to examine the compulsory integration of Communication and Application of Number into the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma (legacy qualification), this paper offers new empirical observations into the persistent peculiarities and challenges of teaching and assessing generic forms of pedagogised knowledge. The discussion takes into consideration practical and policy dimensions that extend beyond individual education sites in Wales and are also relevant to the 2017 review of the new Essential Skills Wales qualifications, ongoing developments following the 2018 review of the Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate, and the Council of the EU 2018 Recommendation of Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion that future performance can be affected by information about previous performance is often expressed in terms of ‘closing the gap’. Feedback has long been recognised as a mechanism through which teaching and learning may be influenced. The current wave of support in the United Kingdom for assessmentforlearning echoes these sentiments. This paper examines the feedback strategies employed by two experienced literacy practitioners in England. Using data gathered from field observations, interviews and documentary sources, the paper presents evidence of espoused practice associated with feedback, demonstrating that whilst teachers may claim that they make effective use of some feedback strategies to support pupils’ learning and motivation, that this is not supported by empirical data. The paper also identifies that whilst some teachers aim to mark every piece of pupils’ written work for perceived motivational benefits; such a strategy can undermine pupils’ intrinsic motivation and lead to a culture of over-dependency, whereby the locus of control with regard to feedback lies solely with the teacher. The paper concludes by exploring some possible implications for practice with regard to the provision of written feedback in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Curriculum integration is a feature of many new curricula that have emerged in different countries since around the turn of the millennium. It focuses on removing the boundaries between traditional subject specialisms, to enable more holistic and 'joined‐up' learning opportunities. This study draws on the experiences of a group of primary and secondary teachers in Wales, engaged in creating a framework for an integrated curriculum for expressive arts. Whilst the teachers are united in their ambition for establishing a curriculum that gives greater status to the arts, curriculum integration presents significant challenges, notably in how subject knowledge is understood and presented within an integrated curriculum. The teachers take different approaches to curriculum integration, with primary teachers favouring a transdisciplinary approach, with child‐led learning and themes taking precedence, and secondary teachers opting for multidisciplinary approaches, where the themes are organising devices but where subjects take priority. Differing practices suggest differing conceptions of subject knowledge and mastery within an integrated curriculum. Drawing, in particular, on Bernstein's concepts relating to knowledge discourses, this paper suggests that the danger of an integrated curriculum is weakened disciplinary knowledge. Whilst this paper relates to the arts, the messages about curriculum integration might be applied more widely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The General Certificate of Education (GCE) A* grade was first awarded to students in 2010. It was introduced to assist higher education institutions in differentiating between the highest performing students and to promote and reward greater stretch and challenge. This paper, based on a synthesis of key policy documents, an analysis of quantitative data and a review of existing research, provides an analysis of the GCE A* grade. The paper begins by introducing the historical and political context that led to the introduction of the A* grade, drawing together policy documents and research carried out by the awarding bodies. The paper then presents an analysis of 2011 A-level data, considering the characteristics of students who achieve the grade and addressing concerns around equality and fairness. A further line of evidence concerns public confidence in the new grade, especially in relation to whether it is fulfilling its purposes. The paper concludes by identifying a number of policy lessons for the future of the GCE A* grade. Forthcoming reforms to the A-level will necessitate a reappraisal of the way A* is calculated: this paper will be a useful source of evidence with which to consider the issues. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports on the design and delivery of classroom pedagogies and students’ engagement with it in two different UK universities. Under the banner of curriculum design and Bourdieu's curriculum principles, the study set out to create modules that provided students with an interdisciplinary perspective on how the web is changing the way citizens live, interact and learn. Focusing on the idea that the web is becoming a tool of intellectual inquiry and an instrument of reproduction of knowledge inequality, the goal of this research was to transform knowledge practices by encouraging a learning habitus that relies on knowing how to learn rather than becoming ‘knowledgeable.’ The paper concludes that the Bourdieuian perspective on curriculum design still holds currency in the digital age, given that it shares an epistemology of practice similar to that advocated by a digital participatory culture. We also offer a critique to our approach, using Bourdieu's logic of practice to examine how education as a field displays (hidden) rules that students embody as their learning habitus. As students’ learning practices become doxified through their educational trajectories, learners find it difficult to engage with a curriculum that aims to diversify pedagogical structures and reflect a changing society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines ways in which approaches to English as Additional Language (EAL) can be decolonised in schools. In an attempt to break traditional divides between academic research and pedagogical practice in this area, this article adopts a collaborative perspective, between an EAL advisory and support teacher and an academic member of staff working in university. Drawing on dialogues and co-analysis with EAL practitioners, this article reflects on limitations of current provision and practice and suggests alternative, decolonial and anti-racist approaches to the education of EAL students. At both school and university level, 'one size fits all approaches' tend to negate the deep historical, social and political roots and contexts which underpin the experiences of 'EAL students' at different levels of education. Issues related to equitable assessment, inclusion, linguistic support and anti-racism tend to be side lined in favour of a focus on language proficiency and attainment, which most often overshadows the complex experiences and needs of students labelled 'EAL'. In this respect, the questions of relevant, decentred and decolonised curricula and forms of assessment that can promote inclusion for students who have experienced migration and are placed in monolingual educational environments in the UK are crucial. Through a decolonial perspective on the curriculum, language and pedagogical practice, inspired by postcolonial studies and Critical Race Theory, this paper discusses three main areas that emerged as crucial to a deeper and critical engagement with English as an Additional Language and the experience of students: (1) the need for a critical reflection on ideas of inclusion and mainstreaming; (2) active anti-racist work in schools and initial teacher training; and (3) decolonising assessment.

A recent government move to increase numbers of students taking post‐16 (post‐compulsory) mathematics in England saw 2930 students being awarded the first Core Maths (CM) qualifications in 2016, the number rising to 9027 in 2019. This paper uses qualitative data, from a study investigating the successes and challenges of these new qualifications in their initial period of implementation, to explore perspectives on how the new qualification is being positioned within the existing post‐16 curriculum structure. First‐ and second‐order effects of the policy are considered, particularly in relation to the dichotomy between CM and the longstanding, highly academic, A‐level Mathematics. Our findings reveal a positive regard for many aspects of CM. However, the systemic processes by which certain students are manoeuvred onto the CM course, and the resulting opportunities for progression of those students, could be interpreted as restrictive, despite the benefits for students of new opportunities for pursuing mathematics study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although England was not included in the International Instructional Systems Study because it was not a high-performing jurisdiction by the Study's definition, contributors largely were England-based. Analysing the Study's nine overall aspects of instructional systems, this paper finds that England is out of step with many of the high-performing jurisdictions, largely deliberately and at the behest of recent and current governments. It is at the deep end of centralisation, its curriculum is not much integrated, and its accountability system is high-stakes test and examinations based coupled by an exacting inspection system. Many of the changes are recent and therefore have not had a chance to bed down, so whether they will result in improvements in international tests such as PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS remains to be seen. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The question of where to locate teaching about the relationships between science and religion has produced a long-running debate. Currently, science and religious education (RE) are statutory subjects in England and are taught in secondary schools by different teachers. This paper reports on an interview study in which 16 teachers gave their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities when teaching topics that bridge science and religion and the extent to which they collaborated with teachers in the other subject areas. We found that in this sample, teachers reported very little collaboration between the curriculum areas. Although the science curriculum makes no mention of religion, all the science teachers said that their approaches to such topics were affected by their recognition that some pupils held religious beliefs. All the RE teachers reported struggling to ensure students know of a range of views about how science and religion relate. The paper concludes with a discussion about implications for curriculum design and teacher training. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent public discussions of curriculum and pedagogy that have accompanied the English National Curriculum review have been structured around clichéd dichotomies that generate more heat than light and that, as Robin Alexander has argued, reduce complex educational debates to oppositional and incompatible slogans. This paper begins by exploring the ways in which these dichotomies have structured recent debates and goes on to critically explore arguments in two contemporary debates, in the fields of history education and music education, assessing how these debates have been framed and the extent to which the debates can be considered fruitful and progressive. In the first case, we seek to show, through a discussion of ‘knowledge’ and ‘skill’ in history, that bipolar thinking is both inadequate and dysfunctional in relation to the matters under discussion. A third term – disciplinary understanding – is advocated and explored. In the second case, we demonstrate that dichotomous thinking about formal and informal music education has generated a debate that has become more sophisticated as various authors have problematised and critiqued informal learning. Analysis of these debates suggests that dichotomous thinking is pernicious when dichotomies are used only as slogans, although dichotomies can be generative when they are used as starting points to open discussion, not to close it. The paper suggests that the difference between the debates might be explained by the varying degrees of political involvement in them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Curriculum and its associated assessment are at the heart of educational systems worldwide. In light of perceived national educational stagnation or decline, as well as of performance in international league tables such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), countries have embarked on curriculum and assessment reforms. This is particularly true in England, where currently wholesale changes are being introduced throughout the system. The curriculum and qualification system in England privileges that which is tested over any other expression of knowledge, which leads teachers to concentrate on teaching what is assessed, either externally through examination papers or internally through coursework. In the summer of 2012, following curriculum and assessment reforms to General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) qualifications, serious concerns were raised about the marking and awarding processes for GCSE English, culminating in legal action. Using that experience as an example of assessment policy and practice gone awry, this article explores the ramifications of rapid qualifications changes and posits that some of the problems that plagued GCSE English in 2012 could be repeated, albeit in different guises, after revised qualifications are introduced in 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the inclusion, exclusion and reshaping of articles within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as they are translated into English education legislation. The CRC comprises 54 articles aimed at outlining rights and freedoms for children and was ratified by the United Kingdom (UK) government in 1991. The paper builds on a previous publication by the authors which highlighted how the mobilisation of articles within the CRC into professional practice undergoes multiple translations. This paper takes an in-depth and critical look at the first stage of the translation process in which articles are mobilised from the CRC into national legislation. Specifically, the paper presents findings from a documentary analysis which explored the translation of principles pertaining to Article 12 of the CRC into English Education Regulations, Acts and Statutory Guidance for schools. Findings demonstrate that the reshaping of the article within education legislation strongly reflects the government's priorities and agendas. The study raises new insights into the need to establish processes to ensure the full mobilisation of Article 12 and questions whether specific principles pertaining to the article could or should be incorporated into national legislative systems.

In the United Kingdom, curricular music education has seen two main waves of development and is in the process of shaping a third. Ideas from the second wave have maintained theoretical dominance to the present day, despite the concerns expressed by some about their practical implementation. This paper suggests that problems with the implementation of second-wave ideas have been caused by hermeneutic complexities inherent to the word ‘music’ as well as by an ongoing ideological debate about the proper purpose of music education. It is proposed here that by approaching musical learning in the emergent third wave through the sub-discipline of ‘music theatre’ – and by conceiving that term in its broadest sense – this interpretive difficulty can be avoided whilst many practical advantages may be reaped. The notion of music theatre as a key component of music education's third wave is explored alongside its theoretical prerequisites, and a number of questions are identified for further consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

GlobalEd 2 (GE2) is a set of technology-mediated, problem-based learning (PBL) simulations for middle-grade students, that capitalises on the multidisciplinary nature of the social sciences as an expanded curricular space for students to learn and apply scientific literacies and concepts, while simultaneously also enriching their understanding of the social sciences. This paper reports the results of an implementation of the GE2 curriculum focused on water resources with 535 seventh and eighth grade students from both suburban and urban school systems. The results indicate positive changes in students’ writing self-efficacy, interest in pursuing future science educational opportunities and the quality of their written scientific argumentation after participation in a GE2 simulation. Curricular implications and future research directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research suggests that Muslim boys have become the ‘New Folk Devils’ of British education, who are characterised by resistance to formal education, especially at secondary level, and under-achievement. Since the 1990s, British Muslim boys would appear to have become increasingly alienated from compulsory schooling, especially in the humanities subjects which lack obvious instrumental value. This mixed-methods study of the performance of 295 secondary school British Muslim boys in their compulsory school history provides evidence which interrupts this narrative of the academic under-achievement and educational dis-engagement of Muslim boys, especially in the humanities subjects. When viewed through the prism of a laminated, non-reductive model of educational success, this indicative sample of British Muslim boys could be considered to have had significant success at a traditional humanities subject such as history intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, instrumentally and civically. This paper therefore proposes that history can provide a vital meaning-making tool to generate the success of Muslim boys in a variety of significant dimensions both in and out of school. It suggests how history can be more fully and effectively harnessed by teachers, parents and policy-planners to encourage internal integration and external social engagement in British Muslim pupils. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In January 2012, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond announced a radical measure that would see every Scottish school student study a Scottish text from a prescribed list. In 2010, Michael Gove announced that ‘Our literature is the best in the world’ and that every pupil should study particular authors. The ‘cultural heritage’ model of English is increasingly dismissed by teachers and students However, it is this ‘cultural heritage’ model which is preserved in the discourse of politicians. This paper explores the role that literary heritage texts play in the discourse of education policy in the context of devolution in twenty-first century Britain and considers the drivers and differences which can be seen in England and Scotland. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mathematics education is rarely out of the policy spotlight in England. Over the last 10 years, considerable attention has been given to improving 14–19 mathematics curriculum pathways. In this paper we consider some of the challenges of enacting curriculum change by drawing upon evidence from our evaluation of the Mathematics Pathways Project (MPP). From 2004 to 2010 this project, which was directed by England's Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, aimed to improve the engagement, attainment and participation rates of 14- to 19-year-old learners of mathematics. Our particular focus is upon the temporal problems of piloting new curriculum and assessment and we draw on Lemke's discussion of timescales, heterochrony and the adiabatic principle to consider the interlocking and interference of various change processes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There has recently been significant emphasis placed on environmental education through the United Nations’ Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). One of the aims of the DESD is to ‘prepare young people for a lifetime of sustainable living’, and yet, despite this, there is a lack of evidence to suggest whether or not the aims of ESD have been achieved within schools. This paper presents findings from a longitudinal study investigating one class of 14- and 15-year-old Geography students in England's understandings of sustainability and their attitudes towards sustainable development. The research used dialogic diaries and semi-structured interviews to explore the students’ understandings of sustainability, within a case study framework. The study found that the students’ understandings of sustainability became more nuanced across the year, with a focus on the environmental perspective of sustainable development. Many students also appeared to feel a growing sense of responsibility towards sustainable development which is significant given the DESD's aim of developing young people's pro-sustainable behaviour. However, despite this, it is argued that more work needs to be done with young people to develop their understanding of sustainability, and to encourage them to fully engage with issues of sustainable development in today's society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including constructing a sense of modern national identity; and exploring the tensions and opportunities in Citizenship, Education and History.

This article focuses on primary teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning and in particular about their preferred ways of teaching; how they integrate National Curriculum requirements into their teaching programmes and their views about stereotyped 'models' of pedagogy. The authors conclude that learning and teaching are understood as highly complex and cannot be subsumed under one particular model. They suggest that most primary school teachers adopt an eclectic approach, but that frequently they are confused about the content of the mix or which approach might be most appropriately used in any particular context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the design and delivery of classroom pedagogies and students' engagement with it in two different UK universities. Under the banner of curriculum design and Bourdieu's curriculum principles, the study set out to create modules that provided students with an interdisciplinary perspective on how the web is changing the way citizens live, interact and learn. Focusing on the idea that the web is becoming a tool of intellectual inquiry and an instrument of reproduction of knowledge inequality, the goal of this research was to transform knowledge practices by encouraging a learning habitus that relies on knowing how to learn rather than becoming "knowledgeable." The paper concludes that the Bourdieuian perspective on curriculum design still holds currency in the digital age, given that it shares an epistemology of practice similar to that advocated by a digital participatory culture. We also offer a critique to our approach, using Bourdieu's logic of practice to examine how education as a field displays (hidden) rules that students embody as their learning habitus. As students' learning practices become doxified through their educational trajectories, learners find it difficult to engage with a curriculum that aims to diversify pedagogical structures and reflect a changing society.

In this paper, I offer a critical reflection on the thesis of the general educational value of foreign languages developed by Russian linguist Lev Vladimirovich Shcherba. I do so against the background of current debates on the positioning of foreign languages in the school curriculum in the United Kingdom (UK). I argue that Shcherba's thesis, which was developed almost a century ago, retains its currency and can make an important contribution to the on-going discussion on the value of foreign languages in UK schools. The paper outlines Shcherba's scholarly explorations in general linguistics which underpin his arguments in favour of the inclusion of foreign languages in the basic school curriculum. The conception of language as a system immanently positioned in social experience assigns the foundational role to language in the literacy project. The conscious analytic processing of language phenomena is viewed as an essential pre-condition of literacy, and foreign languages are shown to be instrumental in developing such an analytic capacity of mind. Shcherba's argumentation reflects a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach, both to foreign language education and to curriculum matters, and merits the attention of language practitioners, educationalists and policy-makers alike.

Using the Internationalization of the Curriculum (IoC) model, this study analyses postgraduate educational programmes that contribute to internationalization in higher education at British and Sino-British transnational universities. The purpose is to explore postcolonial curricular design influences and opportunities. The study identified patterns based on content analysis of twelve programmes' goals, approaches, and course listings. The findings reflected noteworthy similarities with limited emphasis on the emerging paradigmatic shift of IoC. The study invited one programme director from each type of university to speak about the design intentions from an insider's perspective. The discovery was that both types of universities were driven, in part, by a response to global market trends rather than an ideological postcolonial design imperative. Semi-structured interviews of postgraduate Chinese students in the Sino-British university's programme were conducted to understand students' perceptions of learning and former pedagogical experiences. Students appreciated opportunities to explore indigenous knowledge and experiences to make the curriculum relevant and meaningful. They expressed a clear need to conduct independent discoveries without necessarily following the patterns established by Western scholars. The paper offers suggestions for constructing postcolonial learning environments. Implications for educational practices are discussed.

Within the UK, physical education finds itself, as a curriculum subject, in a contested space with felt pressures from competing discourses and policy areas. This paper contests that over time within this nexus, physical education has become disconnected in four specific ways: from the wider movement culture, from other curriculum subjects, within the curriculum between different age phases and between training and teacher needs. The paper discusses each of these disconnections and, importantly, offers suggestions about how reconnections might be found.

A foreword to "Curriculum Journal," is presented.

Inferences from recent international comparative data on mathematical attainment, frequently quoted as justification for curriculum change, are critically examined, and the implications are contrasted with expressed curricular aims. Using characterisations by Ball (1990) and Ernest (1991), positions of key actors are analysed in relation to priorities given to different aspects of the mathematics curriculum, in particular facts and skills, cultural heritage, functionality and curricular structure. These are compared with characterisations made in the late 1980s, and in the early years of the New Labour government. This analysis highlights tensions that are likely to arise in the design of a new curriculum in mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘Learning How to Learn’ project of the ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme engaged teachers from primary and secondary schools in the UK in development and research of practice related to ‘assessment for learning’ between 2001 and 2005. As part of the project, we were concerned to discover what factors encouraged the development and sharing of practice within and between schools, including the use of electronic networking. A range of data about the use of electronic networks, tools and resources was collected through: a survey of over 250 teachers; an audit of participating schools' IT infrastructures and available resources; semi-structured interviews; and a novel ‘network mapping’ task. We discovered that while use of IT is now a well-established element of classroom practice, teachers made less use of electronic networks to develop their professional practice, even when their schools were part of networks designed to support them in so doing. Despite a range of barriers to the development of IT in teachers' practice, the overall impression presented by the data is one of optimism as to what new technologies can offer and a sense that while the journey may be onerous the benefits will make it all worth while. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a response to research by the Learning Outcomes Theme Group (LOTG), part of Great Britain's Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP), as it applies to professional and workplace learning. Purpose of the TLRP; Observation that the transition from education to work fails because too many employers cannot see that they have a responsibility to promote learning; Analysis of LOTG research.

The article presents initial and small-scale empirical research looking at different approaches used by children to organize historical information. It examines the extent to which children organize information into narrative forms. The findings are located in a wider discussion about the changing status of narrative in the teaching of history in Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) in England has had a very significant effect on the teaching of numeracy in English primary schools. The NNS, however, does not apply in Wales where the Welsh Office decided to adopt a less prescriptive approach and encouraged local education authorities (LEAs), in partnership with their schools, to develop their own, locally based, numeracy initiatives. This article outlines the way in which recent numeracy policies have developed in England and Wales and compares their main strands. The article suggests that the decision not to adopt the NNS in Wales was potentially one of the most significant educational policy decisions taken in Cardiff during recent years. The article also highlights the fact that these parallel approaches offer an ideal opportunity for evaluating the impact and effectiveness of such alternative strategies as levers for large-scale reform, and that such examination could usefully inform future policy-making both within and beyond the curricular and geographical limits of the contexts considered here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational policy in the UK and beyond increasingly focuses on promoting skills that encourage learners to be independent thinkers and to self‐manage their own learning. While the educational benefits of metacognition (i.e., thinking about and managing one's own thinking) are widely acknowledged, little attention has been paid to teachers' perspectives about the enactment of such approaches within the educational setting. Thus, this interview study seeks to investigate Scottish primary schools teachers' perspectives about the enactment of policy, using metacognition as an exemplar case. Analysis produced two broad themes that distinguished between 'bottom‐up' implementation of metacognitive approaches, and more commonly described 'top‐down' approaches promoted by local or national policy. The perceived 'changing tide' of externally set top‐down initiatives was described as particularly challenging for teachers to negotiate, resulting in a perceived crowding of the curriculum and associated 'tick‐boxing' practices. Results are discussed in relation to the process of enactment—arguing that the predominance of top‐down policy initiatives acts to restrict teachers' agency by diminishing professionalism and promoting performativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a response to research by the Learning Outcomes Theme Group (LOTG), part of Great Britain's Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP), from the perspective of schools. Description of the TLRP; Role of the LOTG, which was seeking to identify and analyse any patterns of emerging added value that might be evident within TLRP in terms of learning outcomes; Analysis of articles related to LOTG research.

This article responds to two key concerns in science education: firstly, that policies designed to assess practical work have distorted its use as an effective pedagogical tool. Secondly, it addresses concerns about the lack of research on the assessment of practical work. The article analyses the policy trajectory for the assessment of science practical work, through the GCSE, in the English National Curriculum from 1988 to the present day. Drawing on published research and policy documents, using Bowe, Ball and Gould's policy cycle approach to policy analysis, we first identify three distinct eras which represent different ways of assessing practical work from 1988 to the present day. Second, we demonstrate that the interaction between high‐stakes assessment narrows the ways practical work is conducted in schools. The interaction between curriculum policy and assessment policy and its influences on pedagogy for practical work has been influenced by the high‐stakes nature of the tests. This is not a unique case to England nor to science education. Finally, we question whether we can design assessments, 'tests worth teaching to', that can withstand the implications of high‐stakes testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests that advocates of the 'knowledge turn' have been united in their opposition to Young and Muller's (2010) Future 2, but that this 'union' has masked very different views of the relations between Young and Muller's Future 1 and Future 3. Whereas some who subscribe to the 'turn' see a 'weak boundary' between Futures 1 and 3 (and therefore consider them similar), others construe these Futures as very different and strongly bounded. We argue that these positions are often underpinned by irreconcilable political persuasions and conceptions of education, society and the curriculum. In order to illustrate the argument, we discuss the political project of the UK-based Academy of Ideas, many of whose members have been involved in advocating implicitly or explicitly for a weak boundary between Futures 1 and 3. This position is then contrasted with those in the UK who are more strongly committed to exploring a distinctive Future 3, and the situation in South Africa, where the tensions between different educational Futures are acutely visible due to the social, cultural and political context and academic and policy debates around the curriculum. We conclude with some implications of our arguments for the Future 3 principles of disciplinarity and sociality.

Schools have a particular responsibility to introduce young people to the range of possible options for them after they leave education as few families can provide this. However, in the United Kingdom, careers education is currently not strong in most schools for a number of reasons but principally due to its low status and shifts in government policy and funding. As a result, too many young people make subject choices for post-16 study that they subsequently regret. In particular, fewer young people in the United Kingdom choose post-16 STEM subjects than might do. Yet, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates are especially valued by employers. We draw on the findings of two research projects, ASPIRES and UPMAP, and argue that one way forward may be to embed careers education in STEM lessons. This can be done in ways that are respectful of and helpful to students. We recommend that an England- or UK-based project to investigate the consequences of embedding careers education in STEM lessons be undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hierarchal status of academic disciplines, what defines valuable or legitimate knowledge and what should we teach our children is a topic of much debate. Amidst concerns of an academic decline, tackling the culture of low expectation and anti-intellectualism, the need to address social justice, and its by-product of cultural reproduction, is the focus of current education policy. Set within the UK, this paper presents a critical review of the literature relating to disciplinary knowledge and teaching and learning regimes, specifically seeking to explore the subcultures which exist between design and technology and its associated curricula counterparts that combine to produce science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The purpose being to proffer an explanation that is supportive in developing an understanding as to why design and technology is perceived by many to be of less value than its STEM counterparts. Situation within a functionalist approach to STEM education policy, findings are discussed in relation to design and technology, which as a subject is caught between the identities of academic and vocational exponents, and it is from this perspective that complex nature and perceived value of design and technology is explored.

Researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers in many countries are grappling with ways to address the persistent problem of inequitable educational outcomes between advantaged and disadvantaged students. This paper reports the results of a unique cross-country, cross-cultural analysis undertaken to provide insights into teaching practices that promote equity, drawing on programmes of empirical research or syntheses of major programmes of research that worked from a complex, non-linear view of teaching and its outcomes. We analysed international evidence about teaching practices that have a positive influence on diverse students' learning outcomes and opportunities and then compared and contrasted the results of these analyses. From the commonalities we identified, we derived six interconnected "facets of practice for equity," which are general principles of practice rather than specific teaching strategies or behaviours. Building on these facets, we developed a conceptual framework that can inform an equity-centred teacher education curriculum that specifically addresses the task of preparing teachers who can make a positive difference to the learning opportunities and outcomes of diverse students, particularly those historically disadvantaged by the education system.

In the United Kingdom, curricular music education has seen two main waves of development and is in the process of shaping a third. Ideas from the second wave have maintained theoretical dominance to the present day, despite the concerns expressed by some about their practical implementation. This paper suggests that problems with the implementation of second-wave ideas have been caused by hermeneutic complexities inherent to the word "music" as well as by an ongoing ideological debate about the proper purpose of music education. It is proposed here that by approaching musical learning in the emergent third wave through the sub-discipline of "music theatre"--and by conceiving that term in its broadest sense--this interpretive difficulty can be avoided whilst many practical advantages may be reaped. The notion of music theatre as a key component of music education's third wave is explored alongside its theoretical prerequisites, and a number of questions are identified for further consideration.

The need to embed Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the higher education curriculum is well recognised in international sustainable development dialogues. However, early pioneers in this area have met with substantial obstacles and now face the prospect of attempting systemic education change in a new and difficult sector climate. This article explores the potential for engagement with the higher education curriculum by bringing ESD into its quality assurance and quality enhancement system. It builds on insights gained from a national project funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, which worked in collaboration with the UK Quality Assurance Agency and a consortium of five universities. It considers the ways that ESD has entered the UK higher education sector and the potential connectivity that exists between ESD and quality. Key findings are shared from the development projects carried out in these universities, including their identification of specific quality-led pathways for embedding ESD, the differences of perspective uncovered amongst stakeholders and challenges for institutional strategy and implementation. It concludes in reflection on the need to access deeper currents of teaching and learning to make ESD a viable education proposition, as well as the potential transfer to other parts of the education and skills sector. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The rationale for the study is to enhance our understanding of how young people learn and engage with vocational subjects within the lower secondary years of compulsory education. The concept of pre-vocational education has recently emerged to describe the initial transitional phase of preparing young people for employment in specific occupational areas in the UK. Although there has been extensive research undertaken in work-based apprenticeship learning, very little research has emerged in pre-vocational education among 14–16 year olds in schools. The research undertakes such an enquiry based upon a case study of North Lanarkshire secondary schools. This local authority has been selected as it has one of the highest rates of young people participating in pre-vocational education in secondary education and has been identified by a recent OECD report as a potential exemplar of best practice in this field. However, concerns remain regarding how to integrate the pre-vocational curriculum with the academic curriculum, whether pre-vocational courses can engage high achievers and, more specifically, how effectively the subject is taught within schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors' experiences of observing teaching and learning in schools have led them to become concerned at the dominant paradigm of a ‘pedagogy of poverty' at the expense of a ‘pedagogy of plenty’. Bernstein's theory of power and control of education knowledge is overtly practised in classrooms globally. This is evidenced in the narrowing of the curriculum in response to the ‘No Child Left Behind’ initiative in the USA and the centrally imposed National Strategies and Standards agenda in the UK. Bernstein's theory is still a means of clarifying the relationships between social class, family income and the education process. It introduced the concept of ‘restricted and elaborated codes’, which has been labelled by its critics as a deficit model for the working-class population. The authors contest that expectations for this new meritocracy have failed to materialise and the expectations for equity have been reduced by the prevailing metric. This ‘pedagogy of poverty’ is now practised in the current ‘one size fits all’ model of teaching and learning operating within narrow accountability based on a ‘testocracy’. This case study demonstrates one teacher using guided group work as a potential strategy for a ‘pedagogy of plenty’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with the place and status of outdoor learning within formal schooling. In light of recent British outdoor educational trends, it considers the general educational significance of outdoor learning in the context of the recent Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. The article begins with an overview of some key educational concerns, and – drawing on the philosophies of Aristotle and Dewey – some discussion of the educational significance of interdisciplinary teaching and learning. The empirical component of the article focuses on visits to schools and outdoor education centres to explore teachers' understandings of, beliefs about and values concerning outdoor learning. The article relates these views to the philosophies of Aristotle and Dewey and to outdoor learning understood as an essentially interdisciplinary moral enterprise. It concludes by exploring some possible practical and curricular implications of teachers' views in light of the Curriculum for Excellence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was prompted by the developing political discourse proposing the teaching of Britishness and British values in the context of the United Kingdom. This discourse will be reviewed in the first part of the article, in the context of previous work which has sought to assess how Britishness and related concepts might be promoted through education. The second part will be based on questionnaire responses from a sample of students following post-graduate initial teacher training programmes in a number of higher education partnerships. It indicates that, while political discourse and educational policy have sensitised trainee teachers to the agenda, there remains a deep uncertainty and misgiving about this as an educational objective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history education community's efforts to help pupils distinguish between the discipline of history and rawer forms of collective memory have been beset with problems from inside and outside the education community. From without, teachers face criticism for their supposed failure to foster narrowly celebratory versions of Britain's past; from within, pressure to reduce history to generic 'skills' of the 'new cross-curricularity', apparently in the interests of relevance, utility or engagement. This article will argue that such genericism is, first, redundant, in that it adds nothing to strong disciplinary practice in fostering thinking, reflection, criticality and motivation; and, second, inadequate: disciplinary knowledge and concepts are necessary in order to reach or challenge claims about the past. The argument is built from history teachers' discourse about their own efforts to find out how to make disciplinary history work at the pedagogic site. The article examines history teacher efforts to address complex problems of uniting content and concept and of motivating lower-attaining or marginalised students whom others (variously) claim can be helped only by narrow narratives or by giving up on disciplinary rigour altogether. The story of history teacher efforts contains valuable lessons for curriculum reviewers about the potential of strong classificatory framing for emancipatory and engaging learning. The article argues that any improvement of the existing Key Stage 3 curriculum is pointless, however, unless wider cultural and structural problems impeding lower-attaining students' entitlement to the subject are resolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]